Sin Barreras regrets and denounces that tens of thousands of immigrants living and working legally in the United States could be sent back to their country of origin in the coming days. The 300,000 nationals of El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, and Nicaragua who have been permitted to live in the United States for many years because their countries were experiencing natural disasters, turbulence, and violence now await their fate.

Each of these countries was designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) based on long-approved Congressional criteria; but the Secretary of Homeland Security will decide in the coming days whether or not to extend the designation for 6, 12, or 18 months. Nicaraguans fleeing Hurricane Mitch lost their permission to stay this week (Nov. 6), and decisions related to 50,000 Honduras TPS beneficiaries and 195,000 El Salvador beneficiaries must be made by Nov. 23 and Jan. 5.

These families’ losing their status is troubling and un-American on every front. More than 50 percent of Hondurans and Salvadorans have lived in the United States for over 20 years: building their lives here, buying homes, starting businesses. They have 270,000 U.S. citizen children. A recent survey from the Center for Immigration Research at the University of Kansas (May, 2017) shows the following:

TPS holders have high levels of labor force participation: 94% of men and 82% of women are working, with 83% of men and 55% of women working more than 40 hours per week. Eight percent (8%) of men and 10% of women work more than one job.

The average monthly income of recent survey respondents is $2,910 (men=$3,598; women=$2,054).

34% of men and 30% of women survey respondents live in owner-occupied homes.

The average educational level of recent survey respondents was 7.6 years when they arrived in the US: 49% of them have furthered their education, enrolling in at least one educational program, such as English language courses, high school diploma or GED, vocational certificate, college courses, and university.

30% of survey respondents volunteered in civic organizations or community groups in the 12 months prior to the survey, showing high levels of social integration. Twenty percent (20%) engaged in activities to benefit to their community: donating blood, cleaning streets, etc.

80% of survey respondents pay income taxes, including 79% of those who are self-employed. They have contributed to Social Security for an avg. of 15.4 years and 90% file taxes every year.

Massive reconstruction efforts to recover from hurricane and wildfire devastation will be incredibly hampered when 50,000 construction workers with TPS lose their employment authorization. Similar losses will be felt in agriculture and in construction industries

TPS beneficiaries are good people. Hondurans, for example, have had background checks conducted 13 times.

A return to these countries—ones they haven’t known in nearly two decades, and now wracked by violence—could result in their being extorted or even killed. And their U.S. citizen children have never known anything but growing up in the U.S.

The real mystery is why the Trump administration would terminate these TPS designations? Why suddenly render undocumented hundreds of thousands of people who have maintained a lawful immigration status for many years?

Sin Barreras calls on political leaders of all persuasions and all citizens to reject this unnecessary – and punitive—policy and to write your political leaders supporting the extension of all TPS programs.

(We have sent this to each of the Charlottesville City Council members and each of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, our two U.S. Virginia Senators, our U.S. Representative for the 5th District, the two Virginia House of Delegates from our area and our State Senator, to the Attorney General, and to the Daily Progress.)

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About Us:

Sin Barreras is a small Charlottesville-based non-profit that focuses on outreach to the immigrant (primarily Hispanic) community, connecting individuals to services. We host workshops in Health, Immigration, Legal affairs, Banking, Education, and others. We provide individual services, such as low-cost legal counseling , direct services to Deferred Action (DACA) children, and soon, to Deferred Action Parents. In Advocacy, we participate with other Latino-oriented agencies on Hispanic issues, and we sponsor various civic events: the annual C’ville Sabroso cultural fair, a Help Fair, and several annual dances.

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